On 26 Jun 1999, writing of this site’s second major web page was started. A few days later, it had additional descriptive pages for most of the entries, making it still one of the most extensive of the site’s Today in Science History pages. Devoting many days to producing a single Today page was not sustainable, therefore much more than a dozen years later, it is still a work in progress. And still fun!
Take a look at the page for 26 June and take your pick from the various “Read More” links. Alternatively, for a surprise, just click on the mouse image above, or any of the copies of the page’s many and varied “More” links below:
On 26 Jun 1834, Sir Gilbert Blane died, the Scottish physician who as head of the Navy Medical board in 1834 introduced a diet including lemon juice for the British Navy's sailors, thus eliminating the loss of manpower to the sickness of scurvy. Today's book pick is: Scurvy, by Stephen Bown. This author’s fluent history shows that medicine of the time wasn’t yet experimental and analytic, or even materialistic, but still sought spiritual or essential reasons for disease.
The author tells the story well, and he presents a vivid picture of life aboard ship during the age of sail-brutal captains; dangerous work; rotting food; filthy, overcrowded living quarters; and the ultimate horror, scurvy. After Blane’s triumph, scurvy-free British seamen destroyed Napoleon’s numerically superior but scurvy-ridden navy. Yet 30 years earlier, before Blane's solution, Britain may have lost its 13 American colonies when its sick sailors were overwhelmed by France’s much larger (though also sick) forces.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $12.61. Used from $5.40. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
And it has been sarcastically said, that there is a wide difference between a good physician and a bad one, but a small difference between a good physician and no physician at all; by which it is meant to insinuate, that the mischievous officiousness of art does commonly more than counterbalance any benefit derivable from it. | |
Do not imagine that mathematics is harsh and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealisation of common sense. | |
Nature, who is a great economist, converts the recreation of one animal to the support of another. |
Before you look at today's web page, see if you can answer some of these questions about the events that happened on this day. Some of the names are very familiar. Others will likely stump you. Tickle your curiosity with these questions, then check your answers on today's web page. | |
Births | |
| Born 26 Jun 1824 as William Thomson, he became an influential physicist, mathematician and engineer who has been described as a Newton of his era. At Glasgow University, Scotland, he was a professor for over half a century. His activities ranged from being the brains behind the laying of a transatlantic telephone cable, to attempting to calculate the age of the earth from its rate of cooling. In 1892, when raised to the peerage he chose his title as Lord Kelvin. From where did he take the name Kelvin? |
| On 26 Jun 1730, a certain French astronomer was born who was the first to compile a systematic catalog of “M objects” (1784), containing 103 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. He established alphanumeric names for the objects (M1, M2, etc.), which notation continues to be used in astronomy. Can you name this astronomer? |
Deaths | |
| Samuel Crompton was a British inventor (1753-1827) who, in 1779 during the Industrial Revolution, created what was known as a “mule” because it was a hybrid of the ideas of two earlier designs. What was the purpose his invention? |
Events | |
| In 1721, the first inoculations in America for a certain disease were given in Boston by Dr. Zabdiel Boylston. Reverend Cotton Mather, who lived in Boston, had previously heard from a slave of the practice being used in Africa. Of all the doctors Mather had urged to try it, Zabdiel Boylston, was the first doctor courageous enough to use the procedure. For what disease was this inoculation? |
| On 26 Jun 1976, the world’s tallest self-supporting structure, a tower, was opened to the public. At a height of 1815 feet 5 inches it was then the tallest free-standing structure in the world, and held that claim until 2010. The three legs and central core were built hollow to ensure flexibility in winds, using reinforced concrete and post-tensioned steel. What is the name of this tower, from what was it named, and what was its major purpose? |
| On 26 Jun 1797, Charles Newbold was issued the first US patent for a significant improvement on the plow, at a time when a similar plow of James Small had to be imported from Scotland. What was this significant improvement? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for June 25: protons and neutrons grouped in onion-like layers of concentric shells • entropy • the decade including the year 1943 (France) and 1947 (U.S.) • Peace • the same year • Mir.
Your click on a Facebook, StumbleUpon, or other social button on the site webpages is also a welcome sign of appreciation. Thank you for using them.
© This newsletter is copyright 2020 by todayinsci.com. Please respect the Webmaster's wishes and do not put copies online of the Newsletter — or any Today in Science History webpage. (If you already have done so, please remove them. Thank you.) Offline use in education is encouraged such as a printout on a bulletin board, or projected for classroom viewing. Online, descriptive links to our pages are welcomed, as these will provide a reader with the most recent revisions, additions and/or corrections of a webpage. For any other copyright questions, please contact the Webmaster by using your mail reader Reply button.
--
If you do not want to receive any more newsletters, Unsubscribe
To update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit this link
Executive Real Estate Business Class
-
Carolyn Bryant, who is now in her 80s, has never faced any consequences for her actions. ...
-
Meet The Man Behind Japan's Most Gruesome Human Experiments During W...
-
55 Creepy Photos From The Darkest Recesses Of Human History From the Fre...
About the publisher
Search This Blog
Blog Archive
-
▼
2021
(585)
-
▼
June
(64)
- On This Day for June 30 - Night of the Long Knives...
- Newsletter for Wednesday 30 June.
- On This Day for June 29 - London's Globe Theatre d...
- Newsletter for Tuesday 29 June.
- On This Day for June 28 - Assassination of Archduk...
- Newsletter for Monday 28 June.
- On This Day for June 27 - Yen made official moneta...
- Newsletter for Sunday 27 June.
- On This Day for June 26 - Opening of CN Tower, Bab...
- Newsletter for Saturday 26 June.
- On This Day for June 25 - Korean War begun, Antoni...
- Newsletter for Friday 25 June.
- On This Day for June 24 - Russia invaded by Napole...
- Newsletter for Thursday 24 June.
- On This Day for June 23 - Battle of Bannockburn, C...
- Newsletter for Wednesday 23 June.
- On This Day for June 22 - Mutiny against Henry Hud...
- Newsletter for Tuesday 22 June.
- On This Day for June 21 - Japanese forces defeated...
- Newsletter for Monday 21 June.
- On This Day for June 20 - Casket Letters found, Ho...
- Newsletter for Sunday 20 June.
- Tonight at 8/7c: Watch ‘Fight the Power’
- On This Day for June 19 - Rosenbergs executed for ...
- Newsletter for Saturday 19 June.
- On This Day for June 18 - War of 1812 begun, Sir P...
- Newsletter for Friday 18 June.
- On This Day for June 17 - Arrest of O.J. Simpson, ...
- Newsletter for Thursday 17 June.
- On This Day for June 16 - First woman in space, Jo...
- Newsletter for Wednesday 16 June.
- On This Day for June 15 - Magna Carta sealed by Ki...
- Newsletter for Tuesday 15 June.
- On This Day for June 14 - First prisoners at Ausch...
- Newsletter for Monday 14 June.
- On This Day for June 13 - Historic meeting between...
- Newsletter for Sunday 13 June.
- On This Day for June 12 - Election of Boris Yeltsi...
- Newsletter for Saturday 12 June.
- Listen Now! Blindspot: Tulsa Burning Podcast
- On This Day for June 11 - Oklahoma City bomber exe...
- Newsletter for Friday 11 June.
- On This Day for June 10 - First “witch” hanged in ...
- Newsletter for Thursday 10 June.
- On This Day for June 9 - Landslide reelection vict...
- Newsletter for Wednesday 9 June.
- On This Day for June 8 - Michelangelo's David inst...
- Newsletter for Tuesday 8 June.
- Action required: Update your HistoryExtra password
- On This Day for June 7 - Lateran Treaty ratified, ...
- Newsletter for Monday 7 June.
- On This Day for June 6 - Normandy Invasion begun, ...
- Newsletter for Sunday 6 June.
- On This Day for June 5 - Start of the Six-Day War,...
- Newsletter for Saturday 5 June.
- On This Day for June 4 - Dunkirk evacuation ended,...
- Newsletter for Friday 4 June.
- Tonight: ‘Alone’ Returns at 9:30/8:30c
- On This Day for June 3 - Pro-democracy protest in ...
- Newsletter for Thursday 3 June.
- On This Day for June 2 - Elizabeth II crowned quee...
- Newsletter for Wednesday 2 June.
- On This Day for June 1 - Debut of CNN, Morgan Free...
- Newsletter for Tuesday 1 June.
-
▼
June
(64)
-
Blogroll
-
About
HistoryFact
0 comments:
Post a Comment